February 10, 2025 • 32 mins
Tracy Bethea is the first black female Program Director of the first black programmed radio station in the Nation, WDIA.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of The Pulse.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, y'all, it is Black History months.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I keep telling y'all in February, I'm black at the
Black Black Black, But I got to keep this good
information coming to you, and especially this month, we're focusing
on a lot of information that is coming out of Memphis.
So there's some black history being made around here that
maybe you don't know anything about. And so that's why
we have this show, keeping our fingertips on the pulse
(00:28):
of our community. I am Stormy, your host and our
very special shill guest today. She's been on the show before,
but never in this capacity. So, ladies and gentlemen, well
shall I introduce you of what you like to introduce yourself?
Go ahead, okay, Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only
(00:51):
program director of Hallelujah FM, first African American pro female
program director of ten seventy d I A Ladies and gentlemen.
She's got a lot of other titles too, But ladies
and gentlemen, let me introduce.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
To you Tracy that Day. Thank you, Stormy, glad to
be here. You're so crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
The crowd is going wild. So how you feeling, Tracy,
I feel good.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
When you asked me to do the show, I'm like
the pulse and I'm like and you said Black History Month,
and yeah, I am now a part of literally black history.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah. So it feels good. It's a full circle moment. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
And when you just do what you love, great things
like this happen.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
So how do you do it?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Because for most people that don't know and this is
one of the reasons why I love to do this
show and these you know, local somewhat expose age because
people don't know a lot of the things that you do.
And we don't always get to celebrate our own around here,
you know what I'm saying, And so people don't know
everything you do. People probably don't know that you work
(02:13):
son up to sundown.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
They don't know that. But I do.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You do?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I do?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And they probably they don't. If I guess, people that
get a chance to work with you, they see the
excellence in it. And I see that you you came
out of the church that did Yeah, that's where you
got that spirit of excellence, ain't it I did. I
got it from the church, and it from my mother
and father m you know, and being an only child. Hey,
(02:41):
you know, there are expectations for you, young lady.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
M and so.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, and I got it from Bobby OJ. Now that's
where I got my work ethic from Bobby OJ because
Bobby was no nonsense. When you come to work, you work.
You're not here to make friends. You're here to be
kind and get along with people, but you're here to work. Yeah,
and so I get my work ethic definitely from him. Yeah.
(03:08):
How does that feel? Because you came under Bobby's tutelage
I did nineteen years old? Nineteen years wow, Yeah, you
were just a baby. I was. Yeah, came home from
school for a break. Ut Martin. Yeah, I went there.
Stan Beale went there, but Staying Actually, when I was there,
(03:28):
Staying was already on the radio. He was on K
ninety seven. When I was at UT Martin. But I
came home for break, and I was working part time,
just you know, getting a little money.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, and I.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Said, oh god, I don't really that was a god
thing for me to find my way to the radio station.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
So why did you do that? What happened to get
you here?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I was taking a break from school, literally break of
all the jobs. Well, I majored in communication. Okay, and so,
but I wanted to do TV, you know, but then
when you come out and you look, you don't see
many chocolate brown skin, you know, fick size, you know
(04:15):
what I'm saying. And so I was like, hmm. Then
I thought and then journalism as well. So I love
that in school. And I said, well, let me see
about doing an internship. And so I made my way
to one twelve Union Avenue and Miss Hattie gave me
an application. And as I was filling it out, John
(04:37):
Lawson came in through the lobby and he was going
on through the door and he came back, so what
are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I'm minding my own business.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And I said, I'm, you know, putting in an application
to do an internship, you know, summer internship. And what
I said journalism. And he said, come and go with me.
And he took me back to the newsroom and he
gave me a newspaper and he said, write this story.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Rewrite this story.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I rewrote the story and he took it, looked at it,
balled it up and threw it in the garbage. Yeah,
and I'm like okay, And from there I redid the story,
and that's how I got into the building and he
(05:28):
told me to come back.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You okay, So here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You don't hear stories like this all the time, and
that's pretty, oh, pretty special it is.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It's definitely a pivotal moment for you. He walks you back.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
You walk in there, you don't know nobody there, nobody.
You don't even know miss Hattie. No, I didn't know
Miss Hattie.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And he walks you back a place where most people
don't get to come get behind that glass. You can't,
you can't. You can't take everybody back there either. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, that was nothing but the favor of God's god life.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
And I didn't know it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
And I got back there and he told me to
come back and come back, and next thing I know,
I was there three months and I told my mom
and dad, I don't want to go back to school,
I'm say, And of course my mother, you know, she was,
oh my god, this is all we dreamed about for
you to go to school. You ain't got no loans,
(06:30):
you ain't got no student loans were paying for you
to go to school. You got your car there, you
get and you don't know anything about radio.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
That was the thing.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I mean, that's Bobby oh j these are you know,
the people that they were listening to.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You don't know anything.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And so my father was more mild minor, and you know, okay,
So I was there three months and I met Bev Johnson,
and Bed began to, I guess, mentored me because it
was the Jami Davis's Rufus, Thomas, Bobby OJ and I
would see them every day.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I'm a friendly person.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And I began to then come into the studio and
again I'm just looking listening and absorbing all of this history,
all of this excellence, because again everybody was there working
and Bobby, you.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Were so close to the foundation of w d i A,
the people that that continued to cement.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Wd I yeah, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
And so during this time, Bobby needed someone to read
some copy and he brought this. He used to read
this Tracy, and it was AM ten seventy w d
i A. That's all he asked me to say.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And you know me, I'm like.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Okay, because I never thought I could get on the radio.
I thought I had a pretty nice voice I could
read to be a radio personality. I was again looking
at TV, so I actually when it would play. He
never did tell me, you just listen, it's gonna play.
In between the songs, I was, I'll never forget. I
(08:11):
was at the corner of Elvis Presley and Rains at
the light and I was listening and I heard the
drop on my voice and I'm like, oh my god,
I think I could do this. And after that, I
just about three months I think I got, you know,
(08:32):
the bug, and I started working overnights and I was
working twelve midnight to six am, so that was a lata.
So from twelve midnight till three am, it was with
love songs, and then from three am until six am
it was gospel. Now I couldn't say a word, but
(08:54):
I was just playing.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Back then we had the cards, playing the cards and
the music and C. C McGee was on K ninety
seven at night. Back then, Jazzy Fay, he wasn't the
Jazzy Fay, big time producer that we know now. He
would come by the station and hang out with us.
He's working overnight, you know. But again, that's how I
(09:16):
really learned from Bobby, because I would ask questions. Now,
he wouldn't tell me a lot of things. But he
would tell me some things, you know, because I would
have to have his music lined up when he got
to work, and I would kind of sit back and
watch how he did on air, you know, And so
I just began to learn from him.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And then.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Linda Morgan left w D. I a she did gospel
on Sundays, and he said, I want you to listen
to Linda on Sundays and see how she does her show. Yeah,
And that's how I started speaking on w D. All
the other times, I was just literally playing the music
(10:00):
and I didn't say a word.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So when she left, did you take over? I did?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And I was doing Sundays from six a m. To
three pm?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
So who was who was.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
On in Memphis doing gospel music at that time besides you?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Linda Morgan? Well after I left?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Well, no, when she left, you were here, But who
else in the city? Was there any other?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Jone Golden on another station?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
She was. That's how I kind of got my name
Tracy on Fire for Christ But they okay, that was
my name when I started two wow, you know, and
then I yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
No, but I like that, And I think back then
it was all about making you know, it was it
was about DJ's having names that made a statement something
that was like, Wow, you know what I'm saying, it's
like a big hat. So that was kind of your
big hat for radio.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, I guess that's I guess that was it, and.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's and it's true because so you had, as they
would say, kind of the dichotomy of playing.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
R and B, yeah, and gospel. So you know where
I'm going. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
So I was from the church, so I was familiar
with the music, and so that was the easy part,
the love songs. Again, I grew up in a home
filled with music. I was familiar with the Mays and
Bobby Womack and the Isley Brothers and Marvin Gaye.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That was my DNA.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
And I also had gospel experience, well the feel for gospel.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Music, let me say it that way.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
But it was the love of the community and the
radio personalities, you know. And I think back, I never
had a me too moment. And I was around some
of the most well known and beloved J Michael Davis.
They they they tutored me, they helped me, you know,
(12:06):
they saw it was it was just a wonderful experience.
BEV then began to take me on trips with her,
the Jack the Rapper that was a real and so
that's why I got a chance to, you know, meet
Martin Lawrence when he first started mark in and took
a picture with Tupops. I still have that picture, you know.
(12:27):
And just all of the relationships I began to make,
and learning how to be a radio personality, and and
and learning how to conduct interviews because I'm around people
that were doing this and segetting to see it person
to see it unclosing personal and not just around anybody.
(12:47):
I mean, you worked around two of the most esteemed
folks in radio in the country. I mean I was
in in uh Little Rock, Arkansas and Bev Johnson and
Bobby OJ's name rang everywhere you go, even to this day.
(13:08):
I mean you could, you could be anywhere at any
convention and if somebody said Bobby oj was there, everybody was.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Like, oh my god, Bobby ojzre Bobby Ojz. Everybody wanted
to meet Bobby oj. Everybody wants to work for Bobby
oj absolutely, and you did.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I did, and you know, story, those were life lessons
that propel me to be where I am today. You know,
I learned a lot from Bobby about music, about how
to It's about the listener and the audience and how
you feed them and how you make them feel, you know.
And so our job is to inspire and that's what
(13:45):
we do and uplift and encourage and inform and so yeah,
here I am a full circle. It really is a
full circle moment for me to be able to program
the station where I once started at nine teen years
of age. It's a real I.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Know it is.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I'm thinking about that listening to your story, listening to
you say that you went to school at U T.
Martin where stan Bell was it was on the air,
and then you worked for Bobby OJ and now you're
a part of the legacy of the stations that you
started at under the person.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I mean you're you're when they when they give.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
The list of program directors for w d i A,
it will be Bobby OJ and it will be Tracy.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
But that's crazy just to hear you say that, And
I don't think you know what I'm saying. I don't
think of things like that because a lot of people said,
did you want I had no idea. I was a
part of the process of helping to find.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The next person the next person.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I was just doing what I do, and because I
love the station, she came and she just came in
to do and work and worked, because that's what we do.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Bobby taught you to do.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I did what he taught me to do, and it
was to work to them because trust me, I had
a whole I have more than just Hallelujah in Memphis.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
That's why I have.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Nine other Hallelujah radio stations in different cities.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And so I was.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Fine, just starting to breathe a little bit with the
Hallelujah stations, and so this was just helping until we
find someone.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
So you you are on nine other Hallelujah stations across
the country, across the country. So where can we hear
Tracy Bethay other than Memphis.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Anywhere in the world literally with the iHeart Radio app
of course, of course.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Always work and see.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
But we have Halleeja FM stations in Jackson, Mississippi, Mobile, Birmingham, Montgomery, Alabama, Savannah, Georgia,
New Orleans, louis Baltimore, Maryland. I think and open like
Auburn Auburn, Georgia. So yeah, we've got nine stations.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Taking the gospel all over the world.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Taking the gospel literally all over the world. We have
listeners in Finland the Call, and so yeah, I do
a lot and so that's just the on air park. Yeah,
but now I also program Hallelujah as well as w
d i A.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So yeah, I do a lot. And that won't even
go into the new stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
But yeah, wait a minute, you might as well. Because
we're talking black history. We talk about we're talking about
Tracy Ka making her mark on uh not Jost Memphis Radio,
but on radio as a whole, as a whole, and
just think about the fact that you now you are
(16:53):
now the program director over stan Bell.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And uh and that's what.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I'm getting ready to say, Hall of Famer bab Johnson,
Oh my goodness. And Tracy, I know. So you know,
people people ask me this all the time. They say,
you don't you don't realize sometimes who you are. And
I'm like, uh no, because I ain't really nobody in
(17:24):
the grand scheme of things, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
You know what I'm saying. When you look at it,
especially when you.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Put your gospel hat on, uh, you realize really who
you are. But people, I guess, Tracy, do you realize
that you are the Tracy.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
ButThe.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
People say that, uh huh and uh, young ladies. I
was in Dallas for an event a couple of weekends ago,
and she said, I know your voice. She said, you're
Tracy Bythey and I said yes, and she said, oh
my god. She said, I was listening to you. She
listens through the app. She's from Dallas, Texas. She said,
I'm at this because I heard you talk about it.
(18:01):
She said, now I get a chance to meet you,
miss Moore.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And wow. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
So it's it's, you know, it's it's a good feeling
and I don't get caught up in the hype of
you know, I'm just a blessed little girl that had
a dream and you know, God ordered my steps to
be where I am and I'm ever so grateful for it,
and so uh yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
But it's it's.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You don't think when you do the work, when you
really do the work, all of the accolades they come,
and they have come, but you don't do I don't
do it for that.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I do it for the love of music and radio. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I've heard Judge, Judy and of course Oprah Winfrey say it.
When you love your job, I mean, you could do
it for the rest of your life. It's really not
a job. It's just something that you love to do.
It's like and and you're fortunate to be able to
do it.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah. So now that your mother sees, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
The fruits of your decision, yes, yeah, how.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Does she feel about the Tracy? Butthet now, you know,
I was amazing. It's giving me some makeup. And I
wrote a check and the lady looked at the check Tracy,
and she said, uh, Katie, But.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
But they are you do you know? Tracy? They I said,
that's my daughter. And you know, she gave me some sample,
some some extra stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, So these are some of the stories.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, you know, yeah, she's getting a little preferential treatment,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So yeah, but oh my goodness, did your father live
long enough to see many of your accolades.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
He saw me move from WDA when I transitioned all
the way to gospel with AM nine ninety the Light,
But he didn't see me make it to Hallelujah FM.
But he did see me move into to nine ninety
(20:08):
the like. Yeah, oh my god. My parents were so
so very proud of me, and my dad was that
I was the daddy's girl as well.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Was he a preacher or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
My father was a disabled veteran. Oh so my father
was paralyzed all of my life. You wouldn't know it
because he was there for my graduations and for all
of my you know, life journeys. When I went to college.
In my job because he couldn't drive and the mother
(20:45):
would drive. My job as a little girl would be
to go to Madison Cadillac every two years and pick
out the color car. And that's where I first first
met Rufus Thomas. I didn't know who it was and
Bobby blame. My mom was you know, would tell me later,
but yeah, so great supporters of me and my mom
is that way today if we do an event and
(21:07):
I'll say, oh, the tickets are going a little slope,
my mother will buy a ticket. She doesn't expect you know.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Oh yeah, so the great supporters of both parents. Yeah,
my dad was as well. He really was.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Your daddy's girl. I was.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, I was as spoiled. I was spoiled, but I
wasn't spoiled rotten. Yeah, there is a difference. There's a difference.
Very respectful, didn't expect anything, Like I said, I.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Worked hard to get where I am.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I didn't want for anything, but I was just you know,
I wouldn't have too I wasn't too bad, you know,
because I was the one that kind of feared when
my mom and dad said something.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, you know they said that, they meant it.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But you can tell, Tracy, And I think for a
lot of people, the reason why I think it's important
to share these kinds of stories is because we a
lot of us know you, you know what I'm saying,
And a lot of people know your story, but they
don't really a lot of people really don't know you.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
They don't know what you went through to get where
you are. And hearing your story today, it was it was.
It sounds like it was just ordained for this to
be you, for this to happen the way it happened,
you know what I'm saying. And you were part of
(22:30):
the foundation, the bedrock of wd I A.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I find I say the foundation was already laid, of course,
I'm saying, but you were there.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I was there under the toutelage of some people.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Rufus Thomas Tennessee Hall of Famer Bobby oj Tennessee Hall
of Famer, National Radio Hall of Famer, Bab Johnson, Tennessee
Hall of Famer. I mean, you know and the other
people that you were around, the greats that in that day,
you know, that little girl Wells.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It wasn't just you know, just the building was filled
with so many amazing big names and so CJ, Superstar Morgan,
you know, so it's just at Superstar. Yeah, yeah, the
Johnny Walkers. Yes, God is good all the time. God
is good, and you know the steps of a good
(23:24):
man are ordered by God.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, yeah, I'm thank you for saying yes absolutely to
the show. Thank you for being here and and you
know for sharing with us. Do you there are other
accolades that you have gotten? Can you name a few
of them?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yes, Well, Stellar Awards and that's on the Gospel rim.
So the Stell Awards are like the Grammys of Gospels. Yeah,
and so Hallelujah FM and Memphis. We've received four Stellar
Awards for Radio Station of the Year.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Me personally, I have won two Stell Awards for Radio
Personality of the Year and numerous other awards I've got
coming up. I've got to go out of town for
the Sound Awards. Two of my radio stations, Memphis and
Montgomery Hallelujah, they are up for Radio Station of the
Year in the same category. So I've got to go
(24:19):
there in a couple of weeks for that. And I've
worked on The Sunday Best, which is a BET television
show that Kirk Franklin was the host.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I was a judge for six years for that.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Before they got to the Erica Campbell and the Donni
mcclerky and Mary Mary. They had to come through the
room for auditions, so I was one of the pre
liminary judges for that for six years. Yeah, I've done
you know, some things I forget about, but yeah, I
did that with the Stelle Awards. When Memphis had the
music Commission under the head of Johnny Walker, I was
(24:58):
a part of that board as well.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I've I've done a lot of things. You've been
shaking some bad shaking some trees around here. I've been
shaking a few trees. I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
So tell me about the love of your life, my husband.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
When did that happen?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
We just celebrated twenty five years. Twenty five girl, how
long you've been married?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Twenty five years? I mean well, no, how old were
you That's what I mean when you got married? Oh
I was thirty two, Yeah, thirty two. Yeah. How long
have y'all known each other?
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Oh we met three years before we got married. Okay, okay, So.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That's my rock. He's he's I guess like me.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
You know, he's a quiet, gentle giant behind the scenes,
but a great supporter, got your back. Yeah, he's got
my bag when you go do whatever it is, he right,
is rare, Yeah he's Yeah, he's gonna be the shifting
chairs whatever. Yeah. So I think I think that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Uh, you know, for you to have a soulmate, a
husband by your side who is not who fits in
well with what you do.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
You know what I'm saying. And I don't mean that too,
you know.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
You know what I'm saying. It's like every woman's dream
is to have somebody who supports her and her work
and what she does. You want that person to not
only be your best friend to be, but to be
your cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
And I can tell that he is that.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And and excuse me by saying cheerleader, y'all know what
I mean, but I can tell he is that for
you is is. Yeah, he's great at that. And when
you just smile, it's a blessing.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
But it's important that you know in a marriage because
when I'm at work, I'm at work, I'm running things. Yeah,
but when I go home, you know, I'm the missus
to help meet. How do you understand my role? But
how do you do that? Well, you have to understand
your role. You've got to know the role of a wife.
(27:09):
You know, I have to try and take off that
hat and you know I'm not.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
You know, did you learn that from seeing your mother
do that? Well? It was no.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I did not in the house because again, my father
was paralyzed, so my I saw my mother.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Now, my father would handle.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
The business of things, but the physical part of it,
it would seem that she would be somewhat of the lead.
But I did see the respect that she gave my father,
and how when they would talk about because they you know,
money and talk about getting the household and you know,
(27:52):
top of the year, you sit down and you discuss
what do you want to do, how we're going to
do this? Those yes, now, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
That's beautiful. Yeah, that's you.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Then you did get that from your mother. Yeah, you
got to it sounds like you got a lot of
attributes from her, because it sounds like your mother was
was she was very strong. Yeah, but it also sounds
like she she knew where to be strong and where
to let girl.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Both of them absolutely very nurturing, and they kept me
very active. I would travel. I started traveling at sixteen,
you know, traveling abroad. Really they kept me, yes, but
they you know, summer programs or uh, swimming lessons and
you know, things of that nature. They kept me involved
in something out you know, with school. I played basketball,
(28:44):
I was a cheerleader. You know. Education was important to them.
My mother retired from Memphis City schools. Yeah, I went
to private school though, and so education was key. But
they also kept me involved in productive things, you know.
So yeah, I do get a lot people tell My
husband tells me all the time, you just like your mama.
(29:06):
I'm like, she with us all the time. You just
like your mama.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
That is a good thing. It's a great thing. Yeah. Yeah,
so yeah, she loves him as well. Yeah. Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Well, thank you, Tracy, You're welcome for sharing this very endearing.
Thank you very you got a story I can tell. Yeah,
there's more and what I am trying to do is
prioritize me a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, and work on a book.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, you have to come back and talk
to us again.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Absolutely, you have to tell us the rest of the
story and how you do all that you do.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
That's grace by God. I stay connected to church.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
I can't do what I do mentally if I didn't
have God in my life, if I didn't worship God,
and I mean and spirited and truth like lay before
the Lord, bow down before the Lord, your blow click,
kisses to the work in what we do here and raid.
You know, it's NonStop. We're like a hospital NonStop. It's
(30:19):
by NonStop. She means NonStop.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Absolutely. People don't think.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, and and people don't often think about us as
normal people. We have problems, yeah every day, not every day,
but I'm saying when we do have problems, when we
come in here and get on the mic, we got
to open up the mic and sound inspiring and uplifting. Absolutely,
and so you have to be able to that's God
(30:46):
in my life and having him center of my life
and my husband, both of us. You know. Part of church,
we have a married couples class that we attend every
week at the church. Yeah, to keep our marriag rich,
healthy and wholesome. It's called CANA Couple's Achieving Newness again. Wow,
And so all of that helps. But yeah, the center
(31:08):
of my joy is Jesus. Gotta have it, really do.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
I love it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Well, thank you again Tracy for stopping and sharing your story.
And I know y'all can't get enough. We'll have Tracy back.
We'll have her, We'll have her back. But I want
to say thank you for your and your mother, and
your husband, and your and your dad for the contributions
that they've made in your life. We see them, We
are benefactors of their love towards you, and we are grateful.
(31:39):
I'm grateful. So thank you, thank you, Yeah, thank you.
It's the Pulse Black History Month. Honored to have the
Tracy Bethay on the show today. M y'all stick around.
We got some good ones coming up for you, just
like this one. Okay, that's gonna do it. Tracy, you
got any pardoning words for the people?
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Trust God.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, you've got to trust God and all the
things that are happening in the world right now. You
have to believe in something bigger than yourself. And you
can't look at what's happening now because this too shall pass,
you know. And God, this everything that's happened, didn't catch
God by surprise. So what we have to do is
(32:23):
activate our faith forward action and trusting him and trust God.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
There you go. All right, it's the pulse.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I am Stormy Tracy, butthay you guys, first African American
female program director of ten seventy WDA, among all the
other hats that she wears.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Thank you guys for joining us. God bless you. We'll
see you.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
No
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another edition of The Pulse.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, y'all, it is Black History months.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I keep telling y'all in February, I'm black at the
Black Black Black, But I got to keep this good
information coming to you, and especially this month, we're focusing
on a lot of information that is coming out of Memphis.
So there's some black history being made around here that
maybe you don't know anything about. And so that's why
we have this show, keeping our fingertips on the pulse
(00:28):
of our community. I am Stormy, your host and our
very special shill guest today. She's been on the show before,
but never in this capacity. So, ladies and gentlemen, well
shall I introduce you of what you like to introduce yourself?
Go ahead, okay, Ladies and gentlemen, the one and only
(00:51):
program director of Hallelujah FM, first African American pro female
program director of ten seventy d I A Ladies and gentlemen.
She's got a lot of other titles too, But ladies
and gentlemen, let me introduce.
Speaker 3 (01:12):
To you Tracy that Day. Thank you, Stormy, glad to
be here. You're so crazy.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
The crowd is going wild. So how you feeling, Tracy,
I feel good.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
When you asked me to do the show, I'm like
the pulse and I'm like and you said Black History Month,
and yeah, I am now a part of literally black history.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Yeah. So it feels good. It's a full circle moment. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
And when you just do what you love, great things
like this happen.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
So how do you do it?
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Because for most people that don't know and this is
one of the reasons why I love to do this
show and these you know, local somewhat expose age because
people don't know a lot of the things that you do.
And we don't always get to celebrate our own around here,
you know what I'm saying, And so people don't know
everything you do. People probably don't know that you work
(02:13):
son up to sundown.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
They don't know that. But I do.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
You do?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I do?
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And they probably they don't. If I guess, people that
get a chance to work with you, they see the
excellence in it. And I see that you you came
out of the church that did Yeah, that's where you
got that spirit of excellence, ain't it I did. I
got it from the church, and it from my mother
and father m you know, and being an only child. Hey,
(02:41):
you know, there are expectations for you, young lady.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
M and so.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah, and I got it from Bobby OJ. Now that's
where I got my work ethic from Bobby OJ because
Bobby was no nonsense. When you come to work, you work.
You're not here to make friends. You're here to be
kind and get along with people, but you're here to work. Yeah,
and so I get my work ethic definitely from him. Yeah.
(03:08):
How does that feel? Because you came under Bobby's tutelage
I did nineteen years old? Nineteen years wow, Yeah, you
were just a baby. I was. Yeah, came home from
school for a break. Ut Martin. Yeah, I went there.
Stan Beale went there, but Staying Actually, when I was there,
(03:28):
Staying was already on the radio. He was on K
ninety seven. When I was at UT Martin. But I
came home for break, and I was working part time,
just you know, getting a little money.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Yeah, and I.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Said, oh god, I don't really that was a god
thing for me to find my way to the radio station.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
So why did you do that? What happened to get
you here?
Speaker 3 (03:50):
I was taking a break from school, literally break of
all the jobs. Well, I majored in communication. Okay, and so,
but I wanted to do TV, you know, but then
when you come out and you look, you don't see
many chocolate brown skin, you know, fick size, you know
(04:15):
what I'm saying. And so I was like, hmm. Then
I thought and then journalism as well. So I love
that in school. And I said, well, let me see
about doing an internship. And so I made my way
to one twelve Union Avenue and Miss Hattie gave me
an application. And as I was filling it out, John
(04:37):
Lawson came in through the lobby and he was going
on through the door and he came back, so what
are you doing here?
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I'm minding my own business.
Speaker 3 (04:47):
And I said, I'm, you know, putting in an application
to do an internship, you know, summer internship. And what
I said journalism. And he said, come and go with me.
And he took me back to the newsroom and he
gave me a newspaper and he said, write this story.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Rewrite this story.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I rewrote the story and he took it, looked at it,
balled it up and threw it in the garbage. Yeah,
and I'm like okay, And from there I redid the story,
and that's how I got into the building and he
(05:28):
told me to come back.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
You okay, So here's the thing.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
You don't hear stories like this all the time, and
that's pretty, oh, pretty special it is.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
It's definitely a pivotal moment for you. He walks you back.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
You walk in there, you don't know nobody there, nobody.
You don't even know miss Hattie. No, I didn't know
Miss Hattie.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
And he walks you back a place where most people
don't get to come get behind that glass. You can't,
you can't. You can't take everybody back there either. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Yeah, that was nothing but the favor of God's god life.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
And I didn't know it, you know.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
And I got back there and he told me to
come back and come back, and next thing I know,
I was there three months and I told my mom
and dad, I don't want to go back to school,
I'm say, And of course my mother, you know, she was,
oh my god, this is all we dreamed about for
you to go to school. You ain't got no loans,
(06:30):
you ain't got no student loans were paying for you
to go to school. You got your car there, you
get and you don't know anything about radio.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
That was the thing.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
I mean, that's Bobby oh j these are you know,
the people that they were listening to.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
You don't know anything.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
And so my father was more mild minor, and you know, okay,
So I was there three months and I met Bev Johnson,
and Bed began to, I guess, mentored me because it
was the Jami Davis's Rufus, Thomas, Bobby OJ and I
would see them every day.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
I'm a friendly person.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
And I began to then come into the studio and
again I'm just looking listening and absorbing all of this history,
all of this excellence, because again everybody was there working
and Bobby, you.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Were so close to the foundation of w d i A,
the people that that continued to cement.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Wd I yeah, absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:33):
And so during this time, Bobby needed someone to read
some copy and he brought this. He used to read
this Tracy, and it was AM ten seventy w d
i A. That's all he asked me to say.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
And you know me, I'm like.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Okay, because I never thought I could get on the radio.
I thought I had a pretty nice voice I could
read to be a radio personality. I was again looking
at TV, so I actually when it would play. He
never did tell me, you just listen, it's gonna play.
In between the songs, I was, I'll never forget. I
(08:11):
was at the corner of Elvis Presley and Rains at
the light and I was listening and I heard the
drop on my voice and I'm like, oh my god,
I think I could do this. And after that, I
just about three months I think I got, you know,
(08:32):
the bug, and I started working overnights and I was
working twelve midnight to six am, so that was a lata.
So from twelve midnight till three am, it was with
love songs, and then from three am until six am
it was gospel. Now I couldn't say a word, but
(08:54):
I was just playing.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
You know.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Back then we had the cards, playing the cards and
the music and C. C McGee was on K ninety
seven at night. Back then, Jazzy Fay, he wasn't the
Jazzy Fay, big time producer that we know now. He
would come by the station and hang out with us.
He's working overnight, you know. But again, that's how I
(09:16):
really learned from Bobby, because I would ask questions. Now,
he wouldn't tell me a lot of things. But he
would tell me some things, you know, because I would
have to have his music lined up when he got
to work, and I would kind of sit back and
watch how he did on air, you know, And so
I just began to learn from him.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
And then.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Linda Morgan left w D. I a she did gospel
on Sundays, and he said, I want you to listen
to Linda on Sundays and see how she does her show. Yeah,
And that's how I started speaking on w D. All
the other times, I was just literally playing the music
(10:00):
and I didn't say a word.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
So when she left, did you take over? I did?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
And I was doing Sundays from six a m. To
three pm?
Speaker 2 (10:10):
So who was who was.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
On in Memphis doing gospel music at that time besides you?
Speaker 2 (10:17):
Linda Morgan? Well after I left?
Speaker 1 (10:19):
Well, no, when she left, you were here, But who
else in the city? Was there any other?
Speaker 2 (10:25):
Jone Golden on another station?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
She was. That's how I kind of got my name
Tracy on Fire for Christ But they okay, that was
my name when I started two wow, you know, and
then I yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
No, but I like that, And I think back then
it was all about making you know, it was it
was about DJ's having names that made a statement something
that was like, Wow, you know what I'm saying, it's
like a big hat. So that was kind of your
big hat for radio.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Yeah, I guess that's I guess that was it, and.
Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's and it's true because so you had, as they
would say, kind of the dichotomy of playing.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
R and B, yeah, and gospel. So you know where
I'm going. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
So I was from the church, so I was familiar
with the music, and so that was the easy part,
the love songs. Again, I grew up in a home
filled with music. I was familiar with the Mays and
Bobby Womack and the Isley Brothers and Marvin Gaye.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That was my DNA.
Speaker 3 (11:37):
And I also had gospel experience, well the feel for gospel.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Music, let me say it that way.
Speaker 3 (11:45):
But it was the love of the community and the
radio personalities, you know. And I think back, I never
had a me too moment. And I was around some
of the most well known and beloved J Michael Davis.
They they they tutored me, they helped me, you know,
(12:06):
they saw it was it was just a wonderful experience.
BEV then began to take me on trips with her,
the Jack the Rapper that was a real and so
that's why I got a chance to, you know, meet
Martin Lawrence when he first started mark in and took
a picture with Tupops. I still have that picture, you know.
(12:27):
And just all of the relationships I began to make,
and learning how to be a radio personality, and and
and learning how to conduct interviews because I'm around people
that were doing this and segetting to see it person
to see it unclosing personal and not just around anybody.
(12:47):
I mean, you worked around two of the most esteemed
folks in radio in the country. I mean I was
in in uh Little Rock, Arkansas and Bev Johnson and
Bobby OJ's name rang everywhere you go, even to this day.
(13:08):
I mean you could, you could be anywhere at any
convention and if somebody said Bobby oj was there, everybody was.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Like, oh my god, Bobby ojzre Bobby Ojz. Everybody wanted
to meet Bobby oj. Everybody wants to work for Bobby
oj absolutely, and you did.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
I did, and you know, story, those were life lessons
that propel me to be where I am today. You know,
I learned a lot from Bobby about music, about how
to It's about the listener and the audience and how
you feed them and how you make them feel, you know.
And so our job is to inspire and that's what
(13:45):
we do and uplift and encourage and inform and so yeah,
here I am a full circle. It really is a
full circle moment for me to be able to program
the station where I once started at nine teen years
of age. It's a real I.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Know it is.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
I'm thinking about that listening to your story, listening to
you say that you went to school at U T.
Martin where stan Bell was it was on the air,
and then you worked for Bobby OJ and now you're
a part of the legacy of the stations that you
started at under the person.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
I mean you're you're when they when they give.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
The list of program directors for w d i A,
it will be Bobby OJ and it will be Tracy.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
But that's crazy just to hear you say that, And
I don't think you know what I'm saying. I don't
think of things like that because a lot of people said,
did you want I had no idea. I was a
part of the process of helping to find.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
The next person the next person.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
I was just doing what I do, and because I
love the station, she came and she just came in
to do and work and worked, because that's what we do.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
Bobby taught you to do.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
I did what he taught me to do, and it
was to work to them because trust me, I had
a whole I have more than just Hallelujah in Memphis.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
That's why I have.
Speaker 3 (15:13):
Nine other Hallelujah radio stations in different cities.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
And so I was.
Speaker 3 (15:19):
Fine, just starting to breathe a little bit with the
Hallelujah stations, and so this was just helping until we
find someone.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
So you you are on nine other Hallelujah stations across
the country, across the country. So where can we hear
Tracy Bethay other than Memphis.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Anywhere in the world literally with the iHeart Radio app
of course, of course.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Always work and see.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
But we have Halleeja FM stations in Jackson, Mississippi, Mobile, Birmingham, Montgomery, Alabama, Savannah, Georgia,
New Orleans, louis Baltimore, Maryland. I think and open like
Auburn Auburn, Georgia. So yeah, we've got nine stations.
Speaker 2 (16:10):
Taking the gospel all over the world.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Taking the gospel literally all over the world. We have
listeners in Finland the Call, and so yeah, I do
a lot and so that's just the on air park. Yeah,
but now I also program Hallelujah as well as w
d i A.
Speaker 2 (16:28):
So yeah, I do a lot. And that won't even
go into the new stuff.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
But yeah, wait a minute, you might as well. Because
we're talking black history. We talk about we're talking about
Tracy Ka making her mark on uh not Jost Memphis Radio,
but on radio as a whole, as a whole, and
just think about the fact that you now you are
(16:53):
now the program director over stan Bell.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
And uh and that's what.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
I'm getting ready to say, Hall of Famer bab Johnson,
Oh my goodness. And Tracy, I know. So you know,
people people ask me this all the time. They say,
you don't you don't realize sometimes who you are. And
I'm like, uh no, because I ain't really nobody in
(17:24):
the grand scheme of things, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
You know what I'm saying. When you look at it,
especially when you.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Put your gospel hat on, uh, you realize really who
you are. But people, I guess, Tracy, do you realize
that you are the Tracy.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
ButThe.
Speaker 3 (17:41):
People say that, uh huh and uh, young ladies. I
was in Dallas for an event a couple of weekends ago,
and she said, I know your voice. She said, you're
Tracy Bythey and I said yes, and she said, oh
my god. She said, I was listening to you. She
listens through the app. She's from Dallas, Texas. She said,
I'm at this because I heard you talk about it.
(18:01):
She said, now I get a chance to meet you,
miss Moore.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
And wow. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
So it's it's, you know, it's it's a good feeling
and I don't get caught up in the hype of
you know, I'm just a blessed little girl that had
a dream and you know, God ordered my steps to
be where I am and I'm ever so grateful for it,
and so uh yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
But it's it's.
Speaker 3 (18:28):
You don't think when you do the work, when you
really do the work, all of the accolades they come,
and they have come, but you don't do I don't
do it for that.
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I do it for the love of music and radio. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
I've heard Judge, Judy and of course Oprah Winfrey say it.
When you love your job, I mean, you could do
it for the rest of your life. It's really not
a job. It's just something that you love to do.
It's like and and you're fortunate to be able to
do it.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah. So now that your mother sees, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
The fruits of your decision, yes, yeah, how.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Does she feel about the Tracy? Butthet now, you know,
I was amazing. It's giving me some makeup. And I
wrote a check and the lady looked at the check Tracy,
and she said, uh, Katie, But.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
But they are you do you know? Tracy? They I said,
that's my daughter. And you know, she gave me some sample,
some some extra stuff.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
Yes, So these are some of the stories.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Yeah, you know, yeah, she's getting a little preferential treatment,
you know.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So yeah, but oh my goodness, did your father live
long enough to see many of your accolades.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
He saw me move from WDA when I transitioned all
the way to gospel with AM nine ninety the Light,
But he didn't see me make it to Hallelujah FM.
But he did see me move into to nine ninety
(20:08):
the like. Yeah, oh my god. My parents were so
so very proud of me, and my dad was that
I was the daddy's girl as well.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Was he a preacher or anything like that.
Speaker 3 (20:24):
My father was a disabled veteran. Oh so my father
was paralyzed all of my life. You wouldn't know it
because he was there for my graduations and for all
of my you know, life journeys. When I went to college.
In my job because he couldn't drive and the mother
(20:45):
would drive. My job as a little girl would be
to go to Madison Cadillac every two years and pick
out the color car. And that's where I first first
met Rufus Thomas. I didn't know who it was and
Bobby blame. My mom was you know, would tell me later,
but yeah, so great supporters of me and my mom
is that way today if we do an event and
(21:07):
I'll say, oh, the tickets are going a little slope,
my mother will buy a ticket. She doesn't expect you know.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (21:13):
Oh yeah, so the great supporters of both parents. Yeah,
my dad was as well. He really was.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Your daddy's girl. I was.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
Yeah, I was as spoiled. I was spoiled, but I
wasn't spoiled rotten. Yeah, there is a difference. There's a difference.
Very respectful, didn't expect anything, Like I said, I.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Worked hard to get where I am.
Speaker 3 (21:37):
I didn't want for anything, but I was just you know,
I wouldn't have too I wasn't too bad, you know,
because I was the one that kind of feared when
my mom and dad said something.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, you know they said that, they meant it.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
But you can tell, Tracy, And I think for a
lot of people, the reason why I think it's important
to share these kinds of stories is because we a
lot of us know you, you know what I'm saying,
And a lot of people know your story, but they
don't really a lot of people really don't know you.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
They don't know what you went through to get where
you are. And hearing your story today, it was it was.
It sounds like it was just ordained for this to
be you, for this to happen the way it happened,
you know what I'm saying. And you were part of
(22:30):
the foundation, the bedrock of wd I A.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I find I say the foundation was already laid, of course,
I'm saying, but you were there.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I was there under the toutelage of some people.
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Rufus Thomas Tennessee Hall of Famer Bobby oj Tennessee Hall
of Famer, National Radio Hall of Famer, Bab Johnson, Tennessee
Hall of Famer. I mean, you know and the other
people that you were around, the greats that in that day,
you know, that little girl Wells.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
It wasn't just you know, just the building was filled
with so many amazing big names and so CJ, Superstar Morgan,
you know, so it's just at Superstar. Yeah, yeah, the
Johnny Walkers. Yes, God is good all the time. God
is good, and you know the steps of a good
(23:24):
man are ordered by God.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
Yeah, yeah, I'm thank you for saying yes absolutely to
the show. Thank you for being here and and you
know for sharing with us. Do you there are other
accolades that you have gotten? Can you name a few
of them?
Speaker 3 (23:43):
Yes, Well, Stellar Awards and that's on the Gospel rim.
So the Stell Awards are like the Grammys of Gospels. Yeah,
and so Hallelujah FM and Memphis. We've received four Stellar
Awards for Radio Station of the Year.
Speaker 1 (23:57):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (23:58):
Me personally, I have won two Stell Awards for Radio
Personality of the Year and numerous other awards I've got
coming up. I've got to go out of town for
the Sound Awards. Two of my radio stations, Memphis and
Montgomery Hallelujah, they are up for Radio Station of the
Year in the same category. So I've got to go
(24:19):
there in a couple of weeks for that. And I've
worked on The Sunday Best, which is a BET television
show that Kirk Franklin was the host.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
I was a judge for six years for that.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
Before they got to the Erica Campbell and the Donni
mcclerky and Mary Mary. They had to come through the
room for auditions, so I was one of the pre
liminary judges for that for six years. Yeah, I've done
you know, some things I forget about, but yeah, I
did that with the Stelle Awards. When Memphis had the
music Commission under the head of Johnny Walker, I was
(24:58):
a part of that board as well.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
So I've I've done a lot of things. You've been
shaking some bad shaking some trees around here. I've been
shaking a few trees. I love it.
Speaker 1 (25:11):
So tell me about the love of your life, my husband.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
When did that happen?
Speaker 3 (25:17):
We just celebrated twenty five years. Twenty five girl, how
long you've been married?
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Twenty five years? I mean well, no, how old were
you That's what I mean when you got married? Oh
I was thirty two, Yeah, thirty two. Yeah. How long
have y'all known each other?
Speaker 3 (25:32):
Oh we met three years before we got married. Okay, okay, So.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
That's my rock. He's he's I guess like me.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
You know, he's a quiet, gentle giant behind the scenes,
but a great supporter, got your back. Yeah, he's got
my bag when you go do whatever it is, he right,
is rare, Yeah he's Yeah, he's gonna be the shifting
chairs whatever. Yeah. So I think I think that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Uh, you know, for you to have a soulmate, a
husband by your side who is not who fits in
well with what you do.
Speaker 2 (26:12):
You know what I'm saying. And I don't mean that too,
you know.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
You know what I'm saying. It's like every woman's dream
is to have somebody who supports her and her work
and what she does. You want that person to not
only be your best friend to be, but to be
your cheerleader.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
And I can tell that he is that.
Speaker 1 (26:31):
And and excuse me by saying cheerleader, y'all know what
I mean, but I can tell he is that for
you is is. Yeah, he's great at that. And when
you just smile, it's a blessing.
Speaker 3 (26:48):
But it's important that you know in a marriage because
when I'm at work, I'm at work, I'm running things. Yeah,
but when I go home, you know, I'm the missus
to help meet. How do you understand my role? But
how do you do that? Well, you have to understand
your role. You've got to know the role of a wife.
(27:09):
You know, I have to try and take off that
hat and you know I'm not.
Speaker 2 (27:14):
You know, did you learn that from seeing your mother
do that? Well? It was no.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I did not in the house because again, my father
was paralyzed, so my I saw my mother.
Speaker 2 (27:28):
Now, my father would handle.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
The business of things, but the physical part of it,
it would seem that she would be somewhat of the lead.
But I did see the respect that she gave my father,
and how when they would talk about because they you know,
money and talk about getting the household and you know,
(27:52):
top of the year, you sit down and you discuss
what do you want to do, how we're going to
do this? Those yes, now, yes.
Speaker 2 (28:03):
That's beautiful. Yeah, that's you.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Then you did get that from your mother. Yeah, you
got to it sounds like you got a lot of
attributes from her, because it sounds like your mother was
was she was very strong. Yeah, but it also sounds
like she she knew where to be strong and where
to let girl.
Speaker 3 (28:21):
Both of them absolutely very nurturing, and they kept me
very active. I would travel. I started traveling at sixteen,
you know, traveling abroad. Really they kept me, yes, but
they you know, summer programs or uh, swimming lessons and
you know, things of that nature. They kept me involved
in something out you know, with school. I played basketball,
(28:44):
I was a cheerleader. You know. Education was important to them.
My mother retired from Memphis City schools. Yeah, I went
to private school though, and so education was key. But
they also kept me involved in productive things, you know.
So yeah, I do get a lot people tell My
husband tells me all the time, you just like your mama.
(29:06):
I'm like, she with us all the time. You just
like your mama.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
That is a good thing. It's a great thing. Yeah. Yeah,
so yeah, she loves him as well. Yeah. Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
Well, thank you, Tracy, You're welcome for sharing this very endearing.
Thank you very you got a story I can tell. Yeah,
there's more and what I am trying to do is
prioritize me a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (29:37):
Yeah, and work on a book.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
Yeah, yeah, Okay, you have to come back and talk
to us again.
Speaker 1 (29:45):
Absolutely, you have to tell us the rest of the
story and how you do all that you do.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
That's grace by God. I stay connected to church.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
I can't do what I do mentally if I didn't
have God in my life, if I didn't worship God,
and I mean and spirited and truth like lay before
the Lord, bow down before the Lord, your blow click,
kisses to the work in what we do here and raid.
You know, it's NonStop. We're like a hospital NonStop. It's
(30:19):
by NonStop. She means NonStop.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
Absolutely. People don't think.
Speaker 3 (30:24):
Yeah, and and people don't often think about us as
normal people. We have problems, yeah every day, not every day,
but I'm saying when we do have problems, when we
come in here and get on the mic, we got
to open up the mic and sound inspiring and uplifting. Absolutely,
and so you have to be able to that's God
(30:46):
in my life and having him center of my life
and my husband, both of us. You know. Part of church,
we have a married couples class that we attend every
week at the church. Yeah, to keep our marriag rich,
healthy and wholesome. It's called CANA Couple's Achieving Newness again. Wow,
And so all of that helps. But yeah, the center
(31:08):
of my joy is Jesus. Gotta have it, really do.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
I love it? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (31:13):
Well, thank you again Tracy for stopping and sharing your story.
And I know y'all can't get enough. We'll have Tracy back.
We'll have her, We'll have her back. But I want
to say thank you for your and your mother, and
your husband, and your and your dad for the contributions
that they've made in your life. We see them, We
are benefactors of their love towards you, and we are grateful.
(31:39):
I'm grateful. So thank you, thank you, Yeah, thank you.
It's the Pulse Black History Month. Honored to have the
Tracy Bethay on the show today. M y'all stick around.
We got some good ones coming up for you, just
like this one. Okay, that's gonna do it. Tracy, you
got any pardoning words for the people?
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Trust God.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
You know, you've got to trust God and all the
things that are happening in the world right now. You
have to believe in something bigger than yourself. And you
can't look at what's happening now because this too shall pass,
you know. And God, this everything that's happened, didn't catch
God by surprise. So what we have to do is
(32:23):
activate our faith forward action and trusting him and trust God.
Speaker 2 (32:28):
There you go. All right, it's the pulse.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
I am Stormy Tracy, butthay you guys, first African American
female program director of ten seventy WDA, among all the
other hats that she wears.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
Thank you guys for joining us. God bless you. We'll
see you.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
No
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